Top-seeded Dorados credit ‘team ball’
Canyon del Oro High School head coach Kerri Brown (holding trophy) and her team celebrate their Class 4A Division I state championship after defeating Tempe McClintock at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale on Tuesday.
GLENDALE – The Canyon del Oro High School girls basketball team finished its spectacular season with a win and the right to call itself champion.
The Dorados (28-1) defeated Tempe McClintock 49-45 in the Class 4A-I state title game at Glendale’s Jobing.com Arena on Tuesday.
“I’m just beside myself; it’s great,” CDO coach Keri Brown said.
Sidney Lewis had 18 points and 14 rebounds, carrying the load for the Dorados.
CDO’s Nadi Carey had six points and six assists in her second consecutive trip to the final game.
Carey won the title in 2008 with Flowing Wells before transferring to CDO for her senior season.
“I already got my ring and I wanted it for my teammates,” Carey said. “I said that at the beginning and I say that at the end. I’m just so excited for them, honest to God.”
Point guard Charde Mayne, a transfer from Wisconsin, pitched in seven points and four assists for the Dorados.
No. 1-seeded CDO trailed for the last time at 14-13 in the first quarter. The Dorados took a 26-22 lead at the half and pushed it to 10 in the third quarter.
No. 2-seeded McClintock (21-8), led by Amy Patton’s 14 second-half points, cut the lead to four as the clock ran down, but the Dorados kept their composure.
“We knew that (McClintock) didn’t go deep; we know that they have one girl,” Brown said. “We saw her get tired and saw them trying to run everything through her. That is not what is going to win a championship game.
“Team ball is going to win a championship game. I think that speaks for itself tonight.”
Patton ended up with a game-high 24 points, but she was forced to work for it.
“(Carey) guarded her pretty much the entire night,” McClintock coach Eric Magana said. “Nadi kept her in front. It was tough for Amy to turn the corner on her.”
The Dorados dominated the paint with Lewis and Sarah Batterton (12 points), leaving little room for McClintock to work on the inside.
The championship is the team’s first since 1987.
Brown, who has coached CDO since 2002, had never advanced past the second round before this season.
For more on high school sports, check out the Grammer School sports blog.CDO girls win championship
CDO girls win title; Santa Rita boys fall
The Canyon del Oro High School girls took a basketball championship Tuesday in Phoenix. Meanwhile, the Santa Rita boys lost in a finals match.
Producer: JUDY CARLOCK/Tucson Citizen
